


Give Him Time

by AmyNChan



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Ch 176 spoilers, F/M, SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER, Tae-Jun is here for a second, This was supposed to be crack, X'D, but I liked writing it, it's crack at its core, mentions of Kaya - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-04-12 13:55:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19133401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmyNChan/pseuds/AmyNChan
Summary: Hak's...  well, a little out of commission after Yona sprungthaton him.  Someone's bamboozled, someone's cooking, someone's Incredibly Amused, and someone is remembering someone special from the past.Takes place post Ch 176





	Give Him Time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Snavej](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snavej/gifts).



> Thanks, Snavej, for kicking me in the rear with story ideas again. X'D

“I love you, Hak.  I wanted…  to say it right away.  Could you hear me?”

Something else was said, but he couldn’t hear it for the blood in his ears.  Was it rushing into his head?  Away from it?  His heart was beating so quickly.

The memory of her lips on his: a desperate transfer of water.  Remembering words said under a thick veil of smoke and pain. The breaking of chains…

Transferring water…  Did it…?

* * *

* * *

 

“And so that’s how he came to be this way.”

The dragons and Yoon gave various noises of understanding.  From Jae-ha’s amused chuckle to Yoon’s exasperated sigh.  Shin-ah and Ao hadn’t stopped trying to feed him, and Kija looked as though he was doing his best to restrain his laughter.

Yona, on the other hand, thought her face was going to explode.  Her throat might have recovered, but at what cost…?

“I guess it can’t be helped,” said Yoon.  He pulled a blanket from the side of the tent and laid it over Hak’s body.  Swiftly, he took a stance of prayer.  “We’ll pray for his soul here.”

“Yoon!” shouted Yona.  “This is serious!”

“Yes,” spluttered Jae-ha, who, it seemed to Yona, was enjoying this _far_ too much.  “The heart of a young maiden is delicate, especially after so many years of no response.  To receive a confession in return; it’s only natural that his poor flowering heart must rest.”

“Jae-ha!”  Yona quickly looked around for someone who might actually be helpful.  “Shin-ah, do you have any ideas?”

The blue dragon turned to her, his surprisingly uncovered eyes wide and innocent.  He and Ao stopped their ministrations to give her their undivided attention.

“Meat.”

_“Meat is my medicine.”_

Yona despaired.  Of course sweet Shin-ah had heard Hak’s grumblings before he was too far away.  And of course he would take Hak’s words so literally!  Of course!  She turned to Kija, her only hope.

Only to realize that he’d left the tent so he could laugh freely and properly.  She was alone.

Hak remained as he had been since they moved him into the tent.  Eyes wide and unresponsive, his ears closed off to the world around him.  Jae-ha’s teasing, Shin-ah’s provocation, Yoon’s mothering…  even Kija’s open mockery wasn’t enough to pull him out of it.  Maybe…

“Should I kiss him and see—”

“Bad idea!”

Yona jumped at the chorus of male voices.  Even Kija had entered the tent with Zeno and Tae-Jun in tow.  She hesitated as she looked at them all in turn.  In a less stressful situation, she might have laughed at Zeno on Tae-Jun’s back, though.  What were they doing before this…?

“Princess, I understand you’re worried,” said Jae-ha, sounding surprisingly mature despite his earlier chuckles.  “But you need to give Hak some time to think your confession over.  It’s been an overwhelming day for him, and you would want the same in return, right?”

Yona paused, recalling.  It was true.  Hak had never been forceful after his confession; he even went as far as to say that he expected nothing to come of it.  Those were his true feelings and he’d let her think on them while insisting that nothing had to change.  It was something she had appreciated deeply, however unaware of it she had been at the time.

“You’re right,” said Yona, bowing her head.  “I shouldn’t force this on him.  I’ll wait for a proper answer.”

“Good idea,” replied Yoon.  He stood and glanced at the comatose man in question.  “In the meantime, we should probably focus on dinner and where we’ll be going next.  General Tae-Jun!”

“Uh-yes?”

“You sent off the ambassadors and their prisoner, right?”

“O-of course!”

“With food?”

The conversation continued, but Yona did not hear it.  She quickly left the tent, making her steps light and full of haste.  With her quiver upon her back and her bow in hand, she hurried out of the military camp’s perimeter to hunt.  With the way her feet were hurting, she probably couldn’t take down a bear, but some pheasant would be nice…

* * *

* * *

 

“Zeno thinks the Miss shouldn’t push herself.”

“I’m fine, Zeno, thank you.”

“Zeno knows, but Zeno was just offering Zeno’s opinion.”

Yona adjusted the bow in her hands and did her best not to wince at the pain in her feet.  Hak had been carrying her for a long time after they had decided to search for food, so her toes were still somewhat unused to the newly heightened senses of bark and pine under them.  Nevertheless, she took a breath and focused.

She loosed her arrow and a bird fell from the sky.  Yona smiled and walked together with Zeno to retrieve her downed prey.

“I appreciate it, Zeno, I really do,” said Yona as she walked slowly.  “I just needed to get away from the tent for a little bit.”

“Then why did the Miss not stay in the camp?” asked Zeno.  Yona tensed at the idea of being found out.  “Did Miss need to put some distance between her and the Mister?”

“Ahahaha… I wonder…” Yona questioned if Zeno’s perception was luck, dragon skill, or old age.  As she silently observed him, he seemed untroubled by what he’d deduced.  It made her feel…  not quite uneasy, but not reassured either.

“Miss is wondering if it’s okay to not want to see Mister right now, isn’t she?” asked Zeno.

Yona nearly tripped over a branch.  Zeno held out his arms to steady her and she loosed a weak chuckle.  “Zeno, it’s as I thought… you’re too perceptive…”

The golden dragon laughed freely for a moment, his voice carrying with it a joy that wasn’t quite so lighthearted.  “No, Miss.  Zeno has simply been where the Miss is before.”

The air seemed to still as Yona turned to Zeno.  His face carried with it the memories of several lifetimes gone by.  The good, the bad, the beautiful, and the painful seemed to shine through his expression for a moment.

“When Zeno asked Kaya to marry him, Zeno wanted to hurry.  Zeno didn’t want to lose one moment with Kaya since Zeno loved Kaya very much.  However, Zeno’s hurry scared Kaya, who was very sick.  Zeno is lucky that Kaya was very forthcoming with her emotions and said directly that she needed time.  Zeno left to cut firewood after that.”

Zeno chuckled at this, then turned his face upwards.  To Yona, it seemed like he was recalling a pleasant memory.  “We waited a month before we married.  And we lived very happily after that because we knew when and how to communicate with one another.  Sometimes, it’s necessary to walk away for a few moments to collect yourself.”

A weight Yona did not realize she’d been carrying seemed to ease itself, allowing her to straighten a little.  She smiled when Zeno turned to face her again.  “Miss and Mister are strong.  As long as they promise to talk to each other after they’re done collecting themselves, then Zeno has faith in them.”

And just like that, the rest of the pressure she had taken on lifted.  She stood up straight and readjusted her bow.  She released a breath and felt the sun’s warm rays touch softly to her skin.

“Thank you, Zeno,” said the young woman.  “I think I needed to hear that.”

“No problem, Miss!”

“Look out!”

* * *

* * *

But didn’t she have something she wanted to talk about back then…?  What if you’re overanalyzing this…?  wouldn’t it be better to ask her?  And what if it really is over adrenaline—

SHE KISSED YOU, YOU IDIOT!

But she could have honestly thought that it was the best way to transfer water…  remember the time you tried to kiss her and she butted foreheads with you to check your temperature?  Oh yeah…

* * *

* * *

“Kija!”

Yona watched as the white dragon ran to catch up with his hand, which he’d sent ahead to protect her and Zeno from the barrage of arrows.  She turned her attention to the treetops.

“I can’t see them—!  Shin-ah!”

He was already scanning the treetops, his golden eyes searching for any glint of a spear or any—

“Jae-ha!” Shin-ah pointed to the trees to their west, a few meters to the side of where the arrows had rained down from.  The green dragon hurried to the location, swiftly displacing their enemy from the treetops.

“Curse you—!  This is for Kuelbo—!” screamed the man as he fell, and several arrows flew to avenge their fallen brother in arms.  Yona grabbed another arrow from her quiver and pulled the string taunt.

“Kija, move your hand!” she ordered.  The white dragon instantly lowered his hand to give Yona a place to shoot from.  She loosed three arrows in quick succession, injuring one opponent and felling another.

“Miss!  We should find cover!”

“Agreed!” she said, falling back.  She knew that they had to free up Kija’s dragon arm so he could fight properly, however—

“No you don’t!” cried another from behind.  The foe shot three arrows _at once_ towards Yona and Zeno, the latter pushing the former out of the way.

“Zeno!”

“Ah, that could have been bad…” said the golden dragon, looking at the arrow that was now protruding from his hand.  He smiled at his enemy.  “If you had gotten my clothes messy, I would have been scolded by mother.”

Though Yona could hear some faint yelling in the distance—“I NEVER GAVE BIRTH TO YOU!”—she had little time to dwell on it.  Zeno removed the arrow and his wound closed quickly.  He shot forward to deal with the foe to the left.  Yona was left with a new foe to the right.

Another shout came from behind.  She couldn’t look behind her without tearing her eyes away from her opponent.  “Kija!  Help your brothers!”

“But—”

“Now!”

She felt him hesitate for a moment and then dutifully leave her side.  She pulled another arrow from her quiver and nocked it swiftly.  Her aim was true, and while her opponent tried to dodge her long-ranged attack, she managed to land a hit on his chest.  She reached into her quiver again to put the man out of his misery.

_None?!_

She glanced to the left and to the right.  Zeno was fighting away three men, each of whom seemed intent on seeing how much of a beating her friend could take.  Jae-ha and Shin-ah were holding their own against an unknown number of assailants from the trees.  Kija seemed to be attempting to make a return even with many men attacking him at once.  What to do, what to—

“Sloppy!”

From the foliage, a man decorated in bandages and dark colors swept through the opposing force.  Five, ten, thirteen men were felled in a single attack!  Yona saw something headed her way and extended her hand to catch it.

Her second quiver!

“Hak!” shouted a chorus of relieved dragons.  And Yona.

“Idiot!” shouted Hak, immediately taking a defensive position next to her and covering her with his body.  “I can’t let you out of my sight for ten minutes!”

_Well, isn’t that a greeting?_ thought Yona as she quickly attached her second quiver.  It would limit her mobility, but it was full of new arrows and she didn’t have the time to discard the first.  Besides, with Hak beside her, moving in order to remain safe was rarely an issue.  “I thought you needed time to think it over!  I was being considerate!”

“Yes, _thank you_ ,” shouted Hak as he unleashed another attack with his glaive.  “For putting yourself in even _more_ danger!”

“I had Zeno with me!” defended Yona against Hak and the villains.  “It’s not like I deliberately meant to add to your worries!”

“I—that’s not—!” Hak turned to face Yona for a moment as she turned to face him.  Swiftly, she brought up her bow and loosed an arrow over his shoulder, injuring the oncoming soldier.  Hak, flustered and impressed, placed a hand over his face temporarily.  “Why would you say something like that when we’re still on the battlefield?  Couldn’t you have chosen a time _after_ we made sure all the stragglers were gone?”

“ _Stragglers_?” asked Yona, hurrying to Hak’s side while loosing more arrows.  “That’s what these are?”

Hak’s answering groan was enough.  The glaive action was just flashy.

“Also, you can’t tell me that I didn’t _try_ to tell you sooner!” retorted Yona, her own temper fluctuating with the wind.  Some of her arrows were getting blown off-course.  “I tried _three times_ to tell you!  Three times!”

“Three times, huh?” asked Hak, taking out five enemies who were within striking distance.  “Tell me, did one of them include headbutting me?”

“Are we really bringing that up?”

“Yeah, we are!”

* * *

* * *

 

“Um…  should we stop them?”

Kija looked worried as the sun set over the many incapacitated stragglers.  However, he was less concerned over _their_ fate and more concerned over the fact that Hak and Yona were _still_ fighting.  They’d gone from targeting the enemy to targeting random trees about half an hour ago when the onslaught had stopped.

It almost looked like they had switched to target practice.

“I think it’s good for them,” said Jae-ha.  “They’re talking, and blowing off some steam won’t hurt them either.”

“Zeno agrees!”

Shin-ah nodded and Ao made that adorable sound again.  Kija sighed and nodded, having no experience in the field and trusting at least Zeno to be correct about this.

“Let’s go back to the camp,” said Kija with a sigh.  “Yoon should be ready for us, and we can tell him about Hak and Yona.”

“Agreed!”

“I wonder if we can tell him anything embarrassing about them to pass the time?”

“…”

As the dragons returned, everyone knew that the two of them would be fine on their own.  There was nowhere safer for either of them than at the other’s side, and as long as they communicated clearly with one another, it would remain that way.

* * *

* * *

 

“WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL OF YOU?  Geez, I let you out of my sight for _one hour_!”

“Please take care of us, mother.”

“I AM NOT YOUR MOTHER!”

**Author's Note:**

> welp... there we go. XD that's done with now.


End file.
